Blower wheel



May 12, 1970 N. E. HORST 3,511,573

' BLOWERWHEEL Filed July 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY MaylZ, 1970 N. ORST 3,511,578

BLOY'IER WHEEL Filed July 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ll orman E. Horsl ZMM A TI'ORNEY 3,511,578 BLOWER WHEEL Norman E. Horst, Moline, Ill., assignor to American Air Filter Company, Inc., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 22, 1968, Ser. No. 746,455 Int. Cl. F04f 29/26 U.S. Cl. 416-178 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A blower wheel with an annular ring of blades connected to a rotatable center shaft by legs depending from selected blades of the blade ring where the ends of the depending legs are adapted to form a central hub to be fastened to the rotatable shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Previous means to connect a centrally supported blower ring to a rotatable shaft have included castings with leg means adapted to be fastened to the blade ring and a center hub adapted to receive a shaft to rotate the assembly. In such arrangements a different casting is provided for each different size and type of blower and it has also been necessary to provide a different hub for each different size shaft.

In most such blower assemblies the blades of the blower ring have been fastened to blade support means and fasteners have generally been provided to connect the support legs to the blade support means.

In other arrangements the legs of the hub casting have been attached directly to selected blades of the blade ring assembly. Such casting and assembly techniques have been expensive and in most instances it has been necessary to finish the surfaces of the hub and the shaft to very close tolerance before assembly so machine expense has also been incurred. In most cases the hub assembly has been fixed to the shaft by a set screw or similar means and rust and corrosion make it very difiioult to remove the heat from the shaft.

Furthermore, the connections between the legs and the wheel, or the hub, have generally been weak and failure of such connecting means is common,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention recognizes that in some applications it is desirable to provide a blower wheel assembly which can be connected to rough or unfinished shafts so that it is not necessary to machine the surface of the shaft or the internal surface of the hub to a close tolerance before mounting the blower wheel on the shaft.

Furthermore, it has been recognized that the present invention provides a blower assembly which is economical to fabricate where the hub assembly is formed to the rotatable shaft as the blower assembly is mounted so that slight variation in shaft diameter from shaft to shaft is not a significant problem.

It has been further recognized that the present invention provides a blower assembly having selectively disposed in the ring blades with a segmented hub, and unitary leg means to eliminate the fastener assembly and/ or the hub which is provided in previous arrangements.

Moreover, it has been recognized that the present invention provides a blower assembly with a segmented hub held to the shaft by clamp means where the hub segments are separable to easily release the blower assembly from the shaft.

Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth hereinafter.

United States Patent O More particularly, the present invention provides a center supported blower wheel comprising: an annular blade ring with spaced cooperative blades to move a stream of fluid when the blade ring is rotated in a selected direction; support blade means selectively disposed in said blade ring having air moving blade means selectively positioned in said blade ring having leg means depending radially inwardly of said blade ring with lateral hubforming segments at the ends of the leg means which segments extend generally parallel to the central axis of the blade ring; and, clamp means to urge the laterally extending hub segments against the shaft means.

It is to be understood that the illustrative example of the present invention given hereinafter is not by way of limitation and that various changes can be made in the arrangement, form, or configuration of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

Referring now to the figures which show one example of an assembly in accordance with the present invention:

FIG. 1 shows one example of an assembled wheel, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of the hub means of the blower assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a view of an enlarged support blade which can be provided in a blower wheel assembly in accordance with the present invention; and,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of another support blade provided by the present invention.

The blower assembly as shown in FIG. 1 includes a blower blade ring with support rings 1 to hold a series of spaced blades 2 and 5 in annular configuration around a hub 4. The blades 2 and 5 are fixed to rings 1, for example by welding, and caoh blade can include tabs 2a to provide a surface for welding the blades to support rings 1. As shown, the blades can be fixed at each end to a blade support ring 1 to provide maximum support for the assembly. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, blades 5 are selectively disposed in the blade ring and, as best shown in FIG. 3, each blade 5 can include depending leg means 3 to extend radially inwardly with respect to the blade ring and a laterally extending hub segment 4 adjacent the end of the depending leg. The laterally extending hub segments 4 of the blades 5 can be of generally curved cross-sectional area to be adapted to form a hub as hereinafter described.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, each blade 5 can have an aperture, for example a slot 7, in an edge opposite the hub segment, and each hub segment can also include a cooperative tab 8 to be received by the slot 7 of an adjacent hub segment to provide means to interlock the hub segments. In the example shown, tabs 8 are offset from the radius of the hub segment to facilitate assembly of the apparatus and so the hub segments of the respective blades can be easily moved relative to each other for release of the hub from the shaft without disassembling the hub.

Referring to FIG. 2 which shows an enlarged view of the hub assembly of a blower in accordance with the present invention blades 5 are assembled so hub segments 4 from an aperture 10 to receive a shaft 10a. Tabs 8 extend through slots 7 and a band 11 adapted to be tightened, for example by a nut and bolts assembly 12, can be provided to receive the laterally extending hub segments 4 of the blade members 5 of the blower assembly to urge the hub segments together to tighten the hub on shaft 10b.

The number of support blades 5 in a particular blower assembly is determined by the number of support legs needed to support the blower under the selected operating conditions and, likewise, the length of hub segments can be determined by selected design characteristics such as the weight of the blade ring and the speed of rotation of the wheel. Furthermore, within the scope of the present invention the hub can include any number of depending leg members, as shown in FIG. 3, Where each blade 15 includes a segmental hub 14 with two spaced depending legs 13 connecting the blade 15 with hub segment 14. Slots 17 are provided in each leg 13 and a tab 18 is provided at the edge of segment 14 so that the tab 18 of one blade is received by slots 17 of the adjacent hub section to form the hub to be attached to a rotatable shaft.

A blower assembly is fabricated with a selected number of support blades 5, and the hub segment configuration and the curvature of the hub segments are determined by the number of support blades to be used in a particular fan assembly and the nominal diameter of the shaft a.

While each blower assembly is fabricated for use in a selected application, it will be noted that blades 5 can be made with a standard hub segment 4 which can be cut and formed for use in several different type blower assembli s.

The invention claimed is:

1. A center supported blower wheel comprising: an annular blade ring with spaced cooperative blades to move a stream of fluid when the blade ring is rotated in a selected direction; support blade means selectively disposed on said blade ring having leg means depending radially inwardly with respect to said blade ring with selectively located notch means and laterally extending hub forming segments at the ends of the leg means, said hub segments extending generally parallel to the central axis of the blade ring and including tab means to slidably engage said notch means of said adjacent support blade means; and, clamp means to urge the laterally extending hub segments against cooperative shaft means.

2. The blower wheel of claim 1 wherein said notch means is in the opposite edge of said leg means from said hub segment.

3. The blower wheel of claim 2 wherein the hub segment is of curved cross-section to conform to said shaft.

4. The blower wheel of claim 1 wherein said support plate includes at least two leg means extending radially inwardly from said blade ring with laterally extending hub segments at the ends of said leg means.

'5. The blower Wheel of claim 4 wherein said hub segments of each said support blade is connected to at least two of said depending leg means.

6. A central supported blower wheel comprising: an annular blade ring having air moving blades connected at each end to cooperative support ring means so said blades are disposed in mutually spaced relation between said rings to move a fluid when said blade ring is rotated; one piece support blade means selectively disposed within said blade ring with leg means depending radially inwardly of said blade means and laterally extending hub segments at the ends of the leg means which segments extend generally parallel to the axis of said blower ring wherein said leg means have aperture means adjacent said hub segment and said hub segments have tab means to be cooperatively received by said aperture means of the leg means of adjacent support blade means to interconnect said hub segments of said support blade means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 866,887 9/1907 Robinson 230-134 2,626,741 1/ 1953 Osborne 230-134 2,910,224 10/1959 Campbell 230l34 3,051,372 8/1962 Rockafield et a1. 230134 HENRY F. RADUAZO, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

